The Brookhaven leader., 1887-07-14

with events for all ages. Tho fate OF
Christendom in q basket let down from q
window on the wall
what you DO, DO Well. II you make a
rope maze y strong and true, for you
, Nuew not how much may depend on your
| Workmanship II you fashion q boat let
1t be waterproof, for you know not who
may sail in it. II you put Bible in the
trunk of your boy as he goes from homo,
let IL be heard In your prayers, for IL may
have a mission as far-reaching as the
book which the sailor carried in his teeth
to the Pitcairn beach. The plainest mans
life Is an island between two eternities
eternity past ripping against his
shoulders, eternity TO come touching his
brow. Tho casual, the accidental, that
which merely happened so, are parts Of a
great plan, and the rope that let's the
fugitive apostle from the Damascus wall
10 the cable that holds 10 its mooring the
ship OF the Church in the northeast storm
Of the centuries.
Again, notice unrecogniEed unrecorded
services Who spun that rop,l Who tied
1t to the basketi Who steadicd the illus
trious preacher as he stepped into 1t.
Who relaxed not muscle Of tho arm or
dismissed an anxious look from his face
until The basket touched the ground and
discharged its magnificent cargol Not
one Of their names has come to us, but
there was no work done that day in
Damascus or in all the earth compared
with the Importance of their work WHAT
il they had In the agitation tied knot
that could slipi What IL the sound Of the
mob at the door had led them to say:
'Paul must take care of himse (, and
we will take care of ourselves"
No, mol They held the rope, and in do
ing so did more for the Christian Church
than any thousand Of US will ever &C
complish. But Go1 knows and has made
eternal record of their u Undertaking. And
they know. How exultant they must
have felt when they read his letters to
the Romans, to the Corinthians, to the
Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Philip
plans, to the Col os SLAMS, to the Thessalon.
ians, to Timothy, to Titus, to Philemon, to
the Hebrews, and when they heard how he
walked out Of prison with the earth
quake unlocking the door for him, and
took com mand of the Aexondrian corn
ship when the sailors were scared nearly
to death, and preached a sermon that
shook Felix off his judgment seat. / hear
the men and women who helped him
down through the window and over the
wall talking in private over the matter,
and saying:
"How glad am that we effec ted that
rescue In coming times others may get
the glory of Pauls work, but no one
shall rob us Of the satisfaction of know
ing that we held the rope"
Once for thrty-six hours we expected
every moment to go to the bottom of the
ocean. Tho waves struck through the
skylights and rushed down into the hold
Of the ship and Kissed against the boilers.
1t was an awful time, but by the essing
of God and the faithfulness Of the men in
charge we came out of the cyclone and
we arrived at home. Each one before
leaving the ship thanked Captain An
drews LIDO not think there was a man or
Wnrian that went off that ship without
thanking Captain Andrews, and w hen
years after heard of his death, was i'm
PEELED to write a letter of cond plence to
his fImily in Liverpool, Everybody rec
ognizsl the goodness, the courage, the
kindness of Captain Andrews, but it oc-
ours to me now that wo never Thanked
the engineer. He stood away down in
the darkness anil the Kissing furnaces
doing his whole duty. Nobody thank ID
the engineer, but God recognized his
heroism and his continuance and his
reward for the engineer, who work I'd out
of sight, as for the Captain, who stood on
the bridge of the ship in the midst OF the
bowling tempest
There are sail TO be about SO 600 min
listers of religion in this country, About
s., 900 | w arrant came from early homes
which had to struggle for the necessities
of life. The sons of rich bankers and
merchants generally become blnkers and
merchants. The most of those who be-
come m inlsters are the sons Of those who
had terrific struggle to get their every
day bread. The collegiate and theologiCa al
education of that son took every luxury
from the parental table for eight years.
The other children were more scantily APP
pareled. The son at college every little
while got bundle from home. In it were
the socks that mother had knit, sitting up
late at night, her sight not as good as once
it was. And there also were some delica-
cies from the sisters hand for the vora-
clous appetite of a hungry student. The
father swung the heavy cradle through
the whe at, the sweat rolling from his chin
bedewing every step of the way, and then
sitting down under the cherry tree at
noon thinking to himself.
~ am fearfuly tired, but it will pay if
can once see that boy through college,
and if l can know that he will be peach
ing the Gospel after l am dead"
The younger children want 10 know
why they can't have this and that, as
others do, and the mother says:
"Be patient, my children, until your
brother graduates, and then you shall
have more luXuries, but we must see that
boy through"
The years go by and the son has been
ordained and is preaching the glorious
Gospel, and a great revival comes, and
souls by scores and hundreds accept the
Gospel from the lips of that young
preacher, and father and mother, QUIT g
old now, arc visiting the son at the viii
lage parsonage, and at the close Of a Sab
bath of mighty blessing father and
mother retire to their room, the son light
ing the way and asking them if he can do
any thing to make them more comfortable,
saying If they want any thing in the
night just to knock on the wall. And
then, all alone, father and mother talk
over the gracious influences of the day,
and say:
"Well, it was worth all we went
through to educate that boy. 1t was a
hard pull, but we held on TIL the work
was done. The world may not know il,
but mother, we he Id the rope, didn't we?'
And the voice, tremulous with joyf al
emotion, Responded
YES, father, we held the rope. I feel
my work is done. Now, Lord, lettest
thou thy servant depart IN peace, for
mine eyes have seen thy salvation"
"Pshawp' says the father, ~ never felt
so much like living in my life as now.